Last Modified: Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 10:24 p.m.

Clemson coach Jack Leggett's Tigers take on rival South Carolina in three games this weekend.

TOM PRIDDY/tom.priddy@shj.com

Brackets and office pools, underdogs and buzzer-beaters will challenge bottom lines. Completing that important presentation due in the morning will have to wait sweating out a close call as one of your Final Four picks is taken to the wire by an eighth-seed in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Fans in the Palmetto State obviously are not immune to that annual three weeks of craziness. But any personal and emotional stake in the proceedings, aside from the pride and payout of a winning bracket, is eliminated due to the current status of our hoops programs.

No, the real March Madness here in South Carolina takes place much earlier and is far more short-lived, and it doesn't require an ounce of research or any bracket. The state's lonely eyes somewhere else, somewhere that has been a modicum of success for years and years.

That madness begins today when two of the nation's powerhouse baseball programs begin what has now become an annual three-game showcase long before the temperatures climb to spring levels and the games truly begin to take on an air of utmost importance as Omaha becomes less and less a mirage as to what could ultimately be ahead.

Few places in the nation at this point in the year are home to a collegiate baseball series that will cause more fervor than when South Carolina plays Clemson. Having these Hatfields and McCoys play a home-and-home with a neutral field in the middle less than 10 games into the season is true genius.

There are undoubtedly fans at Indiana, Georgetown and, heck, even perennial baseball power Miami (who cares when your basketball team is vying for a No. 1 seed?) who don't even know baseball has begun. That fact isn't lost on supporters of the Gamecocks and Tigers, who will pack the friendly confines in Tiger Town, Greenville and Columbia this weekend to watch the annual blood feud.

Of course this pair of schools draws abundant scrutiny and intensity from locals no matter the competition, but the fact they are widely recognized as two of the most revered programs on the diamond makes for what would normally be some forgettable cold-weather baseball always memorable.

With Gamecocks' basketball not even a blip on the radar and the Tigers needing a miracle just to reach the NIT, there will be no local rooting interest in the Big Dance. Even the comfort of being able to root for Wofford and USC Upstate is a longshot.

That leaves USC/Clemson baseball as the only game in town as we approach the Ides of March. The two schools have been nice enough to provide the state with plenty of truly meaningful games over the past several years with win-or-go-home meetings in the postseason, the majority of which have been won by the Gamecocks.

That includes last season's two-game sweep in the NCAA regional that bounced the Tigers and propelled USC to a remarkable third consecutive appearance in the College World Series finale. Those types of situations only spice up these early regular season sets as many love to factor in all the psychological aspects. How Clemson is in desperate need of finally trumping its biggest rival even on a lesser stage, or how can South Carolina continue its dominance after the departure of ringleaders such as Michael Roth, Matt Price and Christian Walker.

Fresh storylines always abound and this year is no different. What young player, such as Clemson pitcher Daniel Gossett or USC shortstop Joey Pankake, will put an early stamp on his career as a rival-killer? How about the fact this is the first time in forever that USC's skipper is Chad Holbrook, rather than Ray Tanner striding out for the pregame meeting at the plate with Jack Leggett.

No matter the names on the back of the jerseys, the fervor never lessens when the fronts read USC and Clemson. Even in the earliest part of a long season, that's about as much madness required when local basketball can't get it done.

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